May 29, 2013

Minnesota is now the fifth state after Oregon, California, Connecticut, and Rhode Island to embrace the PaintCare(R) program - Governor Signs PaintCare(R) Bill

On May 24, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed into law a bill that provides for the establishment of ACA's PaintCare® program. Minnesota is now the fifth state after Oregon, California, Connecticut, and Rhode Island to embrace the PaintCare program — the ACA- and industry-conceived platform for the proper and effective management of postconsumer paint. On May 18, the Minnesota legislature approved legislation that would establish the PaintCare program in their state, under House File 976, Omnibus Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance and Policy Bill. PaintCare had the support of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and several non-governmental organizations, including various paint producers and independent retailers. Implementation is slated for July 1, 2014.

ACA had actively pushed for passage of the PaintCare program in the state, testifying before the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee and Senate Environment and Energy Committee on March 5, in support of HF 865 and SF 639, Architectural Paint; Product Stewardship Program in support of the program. In its testimony, ACA noted that the association, along with its industry, is committed to finding a viable solution to the issue of post-consumer paint, which is often the number one product, by volume and cost, coming into Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) programs. It also pointed to the resounding success of its PaintCare pilot program in Oregon, as well as more than a decade of success of similar programs in Canada.

ACA created PaintCare, a 501(c)(3) organization whose sole purpose is to ensure effective operation and efficient administration of paint product stewardship programs, on behalf of all architectural paint manufacturers in the United States. PaintCare undertakes the responsibility for ensuring an environmentally sound and cost-effective program by developing and implementing strategies to reduce the generation of post-consumer architectural paint; promoting the reuse of post-consumer architectural paint; and providing for the collection, transport, and processing of post-consumer architectural paint using the hierarchy of "reduce, reuse, recycle," and proper disposal.
READ MORE at:
http://www.paint.org/news/industry-news/item/1204-minnesota-governor-signs-paintcare%C2%AE-bill.html